Cultural competency for leader and managers

Cultural Competency for Leaders and Managers

Introduction

This article was written by Paulo Gomes, and is a result of an academic research in the School of Sociology at The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The author believes that are several differences that defines a leader, a chief and a boss. However, one thing should be common to these three categories of management functions: without being culturally competent they would not be able to efficiently execute their functions.

Management Definitions

The word manage has an interesting history. It derives from the Italian word "Maneggio" which means training a horse. Managers adopt impersonal attitudes, sometimes even passive according to their goal while leaders have a personal and active attitude when achieving their goals. There is a need for leadership in business, while there is an emptiness about what this means in practice and how to make changes. Yes, leadership and management are different. They differ in motivation, personal history and way of thinking and acting. According to Covey, leadership is not the same as management. Management is an overview of the methods, the best way to achieve certain things. Leadership deals with objectives and goals focusing on getting things done and, must come before management. While managers have their focus on systems, processes and technology, seeking to direct the workers, leaders are people, context and culture oriented, seeking to serve the employees of the organization . A strong leadership must constantly monitor the change in the social environment such as purchasing habits and consumer impulses in the sales area for example , organizing the resources in the right direction. Most organizations are super managed and less leadered. The author says, managing is doing things the right way, leadership is doing the right things.
Chief, Manager and Leader Leadership should not be confused with chief functions or management. A good manager